A compact guide to writing better blogs

by Michael Gabrian on 04/05/2017

We all know how important it is to write up blogs for our businesses. We use it as a bridge to our audience, it gives us a chance to show we're experts of our industry, and it's great for SEO. But sometimes our blogs aren't as successful as we thought they'd be. What happened? Let's talk a bit on how to write a good blog post.

“The first thing you need to decide when you build your blog is what you want to accomplish with it, and what it can do if successful.”

-Ron Dwason

Components of a good title

How's that heading? I ask because if a reader doesn't like it, they sure won't push through to read the rest of the article. Copyblogger states that 8 out of 10 people will read the headline but only 2 will read the rest.

With that said, what goes into a great heading? How do we make them stay? Here are some bullet points of what I think the most important pieces are:

Length - Content Marketing Institute says that a title with 8 words performs best. I think it's safe to say that with readers shorter attention spans, shorter titles are ideal.

Language - Your headline should be strong like bull. Do you want to write good content or captivating content? Would avoiding some of these tips be bad for your blog or detrimental?

The recipe - Goins, writer provides a formula for an awesome headline recipe.

Number or Trigger word + Adjective + Keyword + Promise

An example could be "5 crucial tips to boost CTA conversions" or "How to effortlessly increase your social engagement"

The secret to engaging content

We know your content has to be engaging and thought-provoking, but what's the secret to making people stick around and read it?

My question to you is... How into the topic are you?

This absolutely matters in making your content more engaging. I see so much more success in the blogs I write where the topic is something I'm personally invested in. With that personal interest, people will be able to tell that you're passionate about the topic. I think that when you're invested in your content, the language you use becomes thought-provoking and captivating.

Story telling

The idea of being a "story teller" gets thrown around pretty often. Sounds all well and good but how do you do it effectively?

Here's how I look at it:

Unique voice - Your audience didn't click your post to read the work and thoughts of the other guy. They want to hear you!

Unique angle - There are probably 10 billion blogs on how to write awesome content, so what makes this one any different? Ideally, you're getting something here that you can't find somewhere else.

Unique story - What goes into your story? How are you making your reader feel? People are emotional creatures that respond to personal examples. Give it a try where you feel applicable.

Quality and quantity

So our goal with blogging is to help people solve problems, right? We write so people better understand the problems they or their businesses face and understand what solutions and options they have.

But let's be real, we also do it for the SEO juice. There's not even a limit. It's simply, the more blogs you publish, the more traffic you get. So 2 to 4 blogs a month is great, but you won't get as much traffic as the company that publishes 8+.

So how do you balance quality with quantity?

The first step would be to create a calendar and organize your publishing expectations. Make it a point to come up with at least one quality piece of content each week.

If you have other team members that can contribute, have them try to write once or twice a month if they can balance it with their other responsibilities.

If you're still struggling to reach your expectations, you could always hire an agency to write up content for you. This will take less pressure off you and your team and still give you awesome results.

Want to learn more on content or social media marketing? Check out these posts: